A Blog is Born

To launch the Pell Center Blog, we proudly present the following imagined dialogue:

You: Another blog?

Us:  Yeah, another blog.

You:  Why should I care?

Us:  Because we’re going to be interesting AND informative.

You:  That’s what every new blog author says.

Us:  Didn’t you notice?  We all-capped “and.”

You:  Not persuasive.

Us:  Just like the vast majority of other blogs.  So right out of the gate, we’re already in the meaty center of the field.  Not bad for day one!

You:  It’s a low bar.

Us:  Fair enough.  But listen, the Pell Center Blog is going to be different because we’re going to grow with the expanding mission of the Pell Center.  We’re going to feature informed writing, provocative ideas, authors from the Pell Center at Salve Regina University, and we’re going to have fun along the way.

You:  Fun?

Us:  Fun.

You: Really?

Us:  Well, we’ll try.

You:  Try harder.

And so concludes our imagined dialogue.  But so begins our blog.

The Pell Center Blog is a (mostly) serious effort to stir conversations.  We’ll use the blog to share ideas, to invite feedback, to spark conversations, and to publicize events.  Each week, I’ll be posting two feature-length essays about current issues in the public debate.  (Look for them every Tuesday and Friday!)  I’ll be posting other shorter pieces and interesting links as they appear to me.

Our focus is the world: domestic and international, but with a special emphasis on the issues at the heart of the Pell Center’s research agenda: emerging national security and foreign policy issues; public choices at home; and the relationship between science and public policy.

And as the Pell Center grows, others will be posting as well.  We’re going to experiment with formats, with ideas, and with opportunities for you to be involved.

That last point is crucial.  There’s no such thing as a one-way conversation, so the blog is integrated with Facebook and Twitter.  Be sure to follow us there, too.

And with all of this social media, we want to hear from you.  (It’s the whole point, after all, and it is where the fun comes in.)

I’ve always believed that an interesting conversation, a healthy exchange of ideas, is fun.  We want the Pell Center Blog and our community on Facebook and Twitter to be places where those conversations take place.

So respond.

Agree or disagree.

But let’s get the conversation started!